


Acta Non Verba

by Bjorntheblorg



Series: Acta Non Verba [3]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Confusion, Demigods, Mild Language, Monsters and Heroes, Mythology References, The story begins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-21 17:08:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14919449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bjorntheblorg/pseuds/Bjorntheblorg
Summary: "I never betrayed you." She said. "You simply never learned to listen."





	1. And so it began

It had been eight days since they had last seen Chloe, Beca was starting to get worried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chloe loved her new apartment, it was bright and sunny in the heart of the city. She looked out of her window, staring at the city before her, with a warm cup of te... hot chocolate in her hands. It was winter, she was cold, and the city was covered with a thick layer of snow that turned it into a perfect picture for a postcard.

 

She took a sip from her steaming mug and smiled, it was hard to afford this apartment but she made it work somehow.

 

‘How did I do it again?’ She thought, looking up at a ceiling she swore was smooth before.

 

Right, she had scholarships and a paid internship at the local Community College. Wait, didn’t she go to a four-year university? Yeah, that was right she was currently at Barden University finishing a bachelor's in biology, but wait wasn’t she a graduate? She distinctly remembered sticking her arm shoulder deep in the rear end of a cow as part of her internship requirements.

 

Yeah, she was in their graduate school for veterinary sciences. She had an internship at the local vet hospital and she won a scholarship to help cover some of the cost.

 

She put her mug down and looked outside, the weather had returned to perfectly sunny and she had a tall glass of ice cold water, the condensation was dripping down her fingers. There was something wrong about this.

 

‘Oh!’ She thought, her head jerking up and she ran out to the kitchen to get her baking cookies since it was the middle of winter.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were few things Stacie believed in, she believed in cold unchangeable facts such as gravity exists and the sun is a massive fireball in the middle of space, but for some strange reason, she couldn’t shake the belief her dreams were real.

 

Of course, if she dare say that around her fellow Ph.D. candidates, they would have laughed at her and told her to join the arts department. So she kept it to herself, recording her fleeting dreams in journals.

 

It started when she was fifteen, as a curious and rebellious teenager she stayed out far later than her parents allowed her to. In her defense, she was stargazing, but it wasn’t strong enough when she saw something through her telescope and passed out from shock, leaving her defenseless body to the mercy of the frigid night.

 

Her parents found her in the backyard, almost frozen to death, and quickly sent her to the hospital. The next day she had a vivid dream of a wolf set on fire devouring everything between heaven and earth.

              

At first she took it as an overactive imagination caused by reading too many mythology books, though she only read one and that was back in 6th grade for a project about Greek myth. But when she could easily recite verse by verse the Bhagavad Gita without ever reading a single line, she knew it wasn’t her imagination.

 

She found that out when her history teacher in high school, who ran out of material to teach at the end of the year and decided why not, woke her from her nap and asked her a question from the conversation between Arjuna and Krishna.

 

“O Krishna, You talk of the renunciation of action but then again, You also speak of karma-yoga. Please tell me clearly, which of the two is best?” Her teacher asked after slamming a yardstick on the table.

 

The words were well familiar now, the conversation between the charioteer and the god replayed many times until Stacie knew them by heart, but she never knew their names or where the words came from.

 

“Both renunciation of action (sannyasa) and the performance of selfless action (karmayoga) give the highest benefit.” She said, the words rolling off her tongue with well-practiced ease. “ Yet, of the two, the path of selfless action is higher than the renunciation of action.”

 

Her teacher blinked, and then carried on acting as if that was part of the plan. When asked later by her friends she said she quickly Googled it while their teacher wasn’t looking.

 

Now her dreams were of wolves big enough to swallow the sun and moon, and Zeus surpassing his father to take the throne. And a woman, with ginger curls and a bright smile warm enough to melt the winter of the end times.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aubrey finally found her, and quickly began the protocol as usual. This time around Beca would have to go solo, but that was fine she was born to be alone. Aubrey gave her a smartphone, a battery pack, and a leashless collar with her number and address on it plus a small pouch to hold her things in.

 

“Just in case. Text if you need money or find her.” Aubrey said before disappearing into the wind.

 

Beca was always touched, not too much because she wasn’t growing soft on anyone anytime soon, that Aubrey knew just what she needed. Even that quick goodbye was mostly for Beca’s sake, if Aubrey had her away goodbyes wouldn’t even happen in the first place, she would simply leave and return whenever she pleased.

 

There was no time to waste as she clipped on her collar and took a deep breath. The trail she found this morning was growing cold, and she was nowhere near close to her new target.

 

It was only fair, she thought, as she ran through the city, the pavement rough on her naked paws. It had always been two against one, now the gods were evening the score.


	2. "O brave new world that has such people in it. Let's start at once."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The players are gathered.
> 
> (There's also a bit of nudity)

Chloe blinked, she could have sworn she had just called her mother. A picture of her mother covered her phone screen, she looked more like her father but everyone always said she had her mother’s smile.

 

“Hi Mommy!” She said with as much joy as she could muster.

 

It wasn’t enough, her mother long accustomed to the sound of her voice could hear the confusion and uncertainty behind her words.

 

“Hi love, why haven’t you called me?” Her mom asked concern laced her tone. It scared her that she scared her mother, she wasn’t sure what was happening anymore.

 

“I just called you?” Her voice broke, where was she? What was happening to her? Why was her dad dead?

 

 

“Chloe I think…” Her mother began, but at that moment time seemed to slow down, like water slowly freezing while traveling through pipes until it stood still as a frozen block.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Chloe took a deep breath, then blinked. She almost forgot to call her mother! Her mother was just as excited, perhaps even more excited than her, that she was starting her first year at Barden University.

 

It was a dream of hers to become a veterinarian, one of her earliest memories was watching her father guiding in a hurt massive black stallion and her running up to the poor animal trying to comfort it.

 

She loved animals, volunteering at shelters whenever she could and even managing to score a summer internship at the local vet hospital when she graduated high school.

 

“Hi Mommy!” Chloe said, a smile splitting her face as she looked out of her apartment room. She had the perfect view of the university and was at the very most ten minutes away by foot from her classes. It was perfect.

 

“Hello love!” Her mother yelled back, she sounded distant, speakerphone probably. Her mother was a painter after all. “How was moving in?”

 

Her Mother couldn’t join her on her first day, Barden was in Georgia while the house her father bought was in San Diego, a massive Navy city. Chloe wasn’t terribly sad about it, but then again she couldn’t quite remember moving into Barden in the first place. She must have, at some point.

 

“Great!” She looked around, all of her items were already neatly put away. “I’ve already finished.”

 

“How’s your new roommate?” Her mother couldn’t and wouldn’t allow her to live on her own, stating that college was about meeting new people and trying new things.

 

The door rang, her roommate was here.

 

“She’s here,” Chloe said, turning to watch her blonde roommate walk in with two arm-fulls of shopping bags. “Hi, Aubrey!”

 

The blonde’s head jerked up to look at her, green eyes bore into her soul and then she nodded and walked away. Chloe didn’t know what to make of her new roommate, she was for lack of better words well composed, but there was something off about her.

 

For example, few people constantly dye their hair blonde.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Barden was nice enough, she got accepted as a Biology major with an emphasis on animal biology. For fun, she enrolled in a Classics Minor, not because she had too but she found the stories of the old gods and heroes fascinating.

 

Her apartment was nice, she found the place online and called Aubrey for a price. The blonde was a lawyer, who rented out the place for reasons Chloe didn’t need to understand. All she knew it was a steal.

 

During her first few days, she had made acquaintances, not to many friends but she was still working on it. Aubrey was the closest she had so far, the blonde was surprisingly chatty when the questions were phrased right. She even gave Chloe a tour around the city, showing off the different haunts and where to get the cheapest food, and even where to go to blow off some steam.

 

There were times, however, when the blonde was what you could call an asshole, but Chloe quickly figured out how to avoid them. Or, technically she figured out how to skirt away from making the blonde a ball of human rage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Chloe, are you okay?” Aubrey asked one day as Chloe sat back down at the kitchen table for the fifth time that hour.

 

She couldn’t remember what she needed, only she needed to do something desperately important. The table helped her jog her memory, when she touched it she could recall the memory of having the memory, sometimes if she touched it longer she could completely remember, but that all went away once she stopped touching the table.

 

“I don’t know.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

After the first few days, the honeymoon phase wore off. Going to classes was far less of a joy now, it was exactly like high school except the classes weren’t mandatory. That sounded like a good thing until Chloe realized she was wasting literally hundreds of dollars an hour sleeping in instead of going to her classes, money her mother could have used instead.

 

So she ground through it, finding strength in the thought of her mother wasting money on her and finding energy by cold brew in the morning.

 

(It was another thing that Aubrey taught her, cold brew was easy enough to make and she could make massive batches that could last the week.)

 

When she finally found a happy medium between school and school work, Chloe decided to go out and socialize, more.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“I will be gone for the rest of the evening,” Aubrey said one day, with a packed suitcase in hand. “And for the rest of the week. Please stay out of my room, and make sure if you invite anyone over they follow the rules.”

 

Aubrey had rules, rules had Aubrey to enforce them. They were mostly reasonable rules, the unreasonable ones were rules Aubrey made because of her preferences, such as no delivery after 7 p.m because that was when Aubrey started studying.

 

Chloe nodded, she was eating soup… drinking soup? How do you describe consuming soup?

 

“Chloe, did you hear me?” Aubrey asked, putting her suitcase down and looking at her like a mother waiting for her unruly child to listen.

 

“Make sure guests follow the rules?” Chloe tried.

 

“No. I said open the window if a dog tries to come in.” Aubrey said, picking up her luggage and walking out the door.

 

Chloe blinked, at that moment she wasn’t sure if Aubrey was serious or not, and it scared her.

 

Also, why would she let a dog in through the window?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It turns out, Aubrey actually sings acapella. Club Rush, basically Club Expo, was scheduled a week into the new semester. Chloe went, looking around at the sights and sounds when she found the blonde standing next to a brunette. They were arguing in German, it felt familiar like she had heard all of this before, and Aubrey was close to blowing a fuse.

 

But then, the brunette said something and gave Aubrey a lopsided smile that made the blonde pause, give a tight smile back, and roll her eyes with a huff.

 

‘Who is that?’ Chloe wondered.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

She didn’t have to wait long to find out. Chloe Beale is not easily flustered, but when she walks into a shower and there are two very naked women inside, she forgets how to function. Not to mention, one of them happens to be her roommate for the rest of the year.

 

“Whoops.” Is all she can say when a brunette panics and covers herself while Aubrey gives her a blood curling glare while covering herself.

 

“Chloe!” Aubrey snaps, strangely enough, Aubrey’s not the type to narrow her eyes when she gets mad, instead of her forehead wrinkles and she starts shaking her head. “Don’t you know it’s polite to knock?”

 

On a philosophical level Chloe is relieved since Aubrey's not trying to murder her yet because she barged in and put them all in this awkward situation; she's probably going to be murdered because she broke one of Aubrey's rules.

 

At least she worn down the blonde, in one week Aubrey had learned to not question Chloe's sporadic and spontaneous nudity. It just happens.

 

“How do you knock on a curtain?” The brunette asks, which earns her a smack by Aubrey’s towel, the one that isn’t trying to hide her goodies.

 

“Why are you guys in the same stall?” Chloe’s already jumped to several conclusions, the first and most obvious would be Aubrey’s finally getting laid. Not to speak evil on her roomie, but that girl probably hadn’t gotten any in a long time.

 

Though, with a college student? Chloe didn't know how old any of the other women were, but it still felt sketchy.

 

“Because Beca here won’t move to another one.” Aubrey snarls through gritted teeth.

 

Beca gives her an amused look as if it was a long-running joke that she stopped laughing at a long time ago but still enjoyed hearing.

 

“Then I’ll go to another one,” Beca said, shrugging.

 

Aubrey’s bone-breaking grip tightened on her towel and Chloe watched, amused, as Aubrey’s face slowly morphed from rage to rage mixed with a hint of terror. Once Beca finished picking up her soaps, she looks at Aubrey with the same amused expression, as if she was daring the blonde to do something.

 

Something in her snaps and Aubrey growls.

 

“Fine, stay here.” She mutters, not looking the self-satisfied brunette in the eye. “Chloe stay here, let’s all shower together. Let’s break every damn rule right now!”

 

With a flourish Aubrey turns on the water and begins bathing, throwing the towel over the wall next to her. Beca freezes and looks at Chloe, who is confused as well. They don’t know what to make of the blonde’s command, which was the wrong move.

 

Aubrey turns around and snarls. “Well? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

 

“No.” “Kinda.” “Yes.”

 

Three voices sound off, and all of them turn to look at Tom, the pervert is naked and watching from the open shower curtain that Chloe suddenly remembers she forgot to close. Oops.

 

“Leave before I cut your genitals off.” Aubrey barks.

 

Tom raises an eyebrow, but quickly turns heel and runs away when Aubrey produces a massive hunting knife out of nowhere.

 

“Isn’t that banned on school grounds?” Chloe asked her roommate. She looks at Chloe and points it toward her chest.

 

“Do you like those?” She asks.

 

And Chloe decides she most certainly does.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

She couldn’t tell if she caught Aubrey out of her element, or in it, but either way, it was hilarious. Aubrey had haphazardly explained that she was staying with Beca for the week, explaining nothing but the looks of fascination and wonder Beca gave Aubrey as if she were looking at a train wreck, were enough for Chloe.

 

They finished showering together, Aubrey and Beca leave with a goodbye, the blonde pulling the shorter brunette out of the shower, her distaste of the place evident. She didn’t like using the communal showers either, but they were convenient when she was on campus. It was public, slightly dirty, and very exposing, though, she didn't expect that much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was probably because she spent several long minutes with a naked Beca, but that night she had a dream about a tall brunette with a distinct bright yellow cup that had the name, ‘Stacie’, written on it in black ink.

 

She wondered what could that mean?


	3. Dreams of the Past and Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What are friends, but strangers we know?

_She was sitting on a cool marble throne, in the middle of a grand hall room surrounded by powerful people all clothed in armor and weapons. To her left sat a tall muscular man with fiery red hair and a brilliant blue eye. His other eye was covered with a patch, and in his gauntlet covered hand he held a short hammer. Upon his head was a golden wreath, a symbol of his kingship._

 

_He sat stiff in his throne, awaiting something that terrified him, terrified all of them._

 

_The door to the throne room burst open, the golden heavy doors were broken off their hinges and shattered on the floor. Before them was a black mass, the size of a human, with blood red eyes and long white claws._

 

_It was so small, it couldn’t be a threat. The others turned to their king with smiles. They had been afraid for nothing they thought with glee. Our King is strong and this… thing… is so small it couldn’t, nay would not, stand a chance._

 

_The king, however, sat stiffer in his throne, his mighty grip tightening on his hammer. She knew the war was over, and they were not the victors._

 

_The black mass looked at her, then to the king._

 

_“Demon!” The king roared in his most powerful voice. “Leave and never return to this place!”_

 

_The Demon did not listen, it stepped forward, challenging the seated king._

 

_With tender steps, the King went down from his throne and walked to the Demon, hammer at the ready. The battle was over before it begun, the Demon was too fast for the King and in one heartbeat it dug its long claws into the King’s chest and tore out his heart._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

When she entered into Barden’s Ph.D. program, her dreams changed from mythic epics into gritty real-life dramas. She still remembers when the dreams changed, it was the day she received her early acceptance letter into Barden’s Nuclear Engineering research program.

 

It didn’t matter to her parents where she got her Ph.D., since she already went through Vanderbilt’s Business School, and at this point, it was just wish fulfillment. Barden was easy, it was her safety school she could run too if she needed to avoid the high maintenance life of rich people.

It went through because they offered her a massive amount of money to come. They were boosting their brand name through her, something she was well familiar with.

 

That day she had a dream, she was covered in fur and ran on all fours. Her tiny heart pounded in her chest as she ran, the entire world was so massive and she was so small it was almost terrifying, but she had no time to be afraid.

 

She ran through a thin dying forest, where spring still clung to winter’s world.

 

They were coming for her. Adrenaline fought through her paralyzing fear and she kept running, her muscles screaming for rest and peace but her heart screaming for freedom. The frigid arctic air hurt her nose and throat, burning her as she gasped for it, punishing her for daring to live. If the monsters chasing her didn’t kill her, the air certainly would.

 

She blinked and looked around. There was no sign of the monsters, but she could smell them, they were close and they were angry. Too focused on the hunters she didn’t notice even the earth stood against her, her skin split as her face collided with a massive rock that didn’t exist there a minute ago.

 

She felt it everywhere, from the back of her skull down into her empty stomach. Then a twist, as her paw caught in a strange way and shifted to compensate.

 

This was it then.

 

Laying in the cold soil, Stacie found herself crying. Not noticing it at first warm tears spilled down her face, matting her fur and mixing with the soil below. She never knew she could cry. It wasn’t fair she would die.

 

The hunters were close, the tips of their spears gleamed in the weak arctic sun and the red of their hair taunted Stacie. They were allowed to live because they had thick red locks, and she was damned to die because her’s were brown.

 

Slowly her fur receded and she lost two legs gaining naked arms. The fur of her head grew and darken into mud colored locks covering much of her face. At the very least, she would make them kill a Being, not a monster.

 

The first hunter raised his spear and locked eyes with her, there was nothing in his sky blue eyes. No mercy. No pleasure. No regard.

 

He threw the spear true, and she closed her eyes waiting for the dark nothing that never came. Instead, something warm sprayed on her face and she looked up. A tall blonde woman stood in front of her, the spear piercing through her chest bleeding black tar.

 

Stacie swallowed hard, the woman looked at her and smiled as she removed the hunter’s spear. In a flash the hunters were dead, decimated by their own weapon.

 

Her savior broke the weapon, and helped her up, ignoring the bleeding near her heart.

 

“Hello, little pup, what is your name?”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

To be fair, she did read White Fang before sleeping that night, but Scott Weedon never took a spear for White Fang. Or maybe he would have, but there never was an opportunity.

 

Or maybe, it wasn’t for him to take the physical blows, it was White Fang’s burden to bear for his Love God while Weedon bore the burden of proving White Fang to the world.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Out of all the things that she wanted to do today, being stood up at a coffee shop wasn’t one of them.

 

To be fair she wasn’t really into the meet up either, she was just bored out of her mind waiting for her program to pick up. The first week of classes were all safety briefings, surprisingly enough nuclear energy is dangerous.

 

Partying was not an option, drinking and Stacie didn’t blend well together. The last time she did drink, she managed to cause nearly one million dollars in damage with a cup of water because some jock refused to believe her. Okay, she cheated it was water and a grease fire, but still, it almost was a PR disaster for her parents. She got off scot-free because the hosts were serving alcohol to underaged scions of multi-millionaires. Reputation to them is far more important than the law.

 

Stacie downloaded a game while waiting, getting so engrossed in killing monsters for coin on her phone that she only noticed she was stood up when she checked the time.

 

By then it was hot so she bought herself an iced tea and called it a day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

She had another dream, a much shorter dream than the Jack London inspired chase. This time she was a woman, with blonde hair that kept getting in her face. Her hands were dirty, covered in dark red blood that haunted her, she needed it but at the same time, she detested the sight.

 

Stacie was starving, but there was no time to eat. Chloe was scared, terrified even, and she needed to make sure Chloe was calm before she could even think about taking care of herself. She looked at Chloe, who screamed at her. 

 

Stacie's heart shattered slowly, in bits and pieces as she realized the reason Chloe was afraid was because of her. She wanted to calm her, reaching out with a bloody hand Stacie quickly realized it was pointless. She wanted to say "It's okay Chlo, I'm not a monster.", but how could she if her hands were covered in blood? How can a wolf tell the sheep it isn't a wolf if it's cloaked with fur and bears fangs?

 

Once her heart broke, the pieces sank into a sorrowful abyss. There was only one option left at this point. 

 

The dream ended with a scream, and Stacie shot straight out of bed smashing into the cold real floor below.

 

“Ow fuck!” She swore, her nose starting to drip her own precious blood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

She met Chloe the next morning, at the coffee shop when she wanted to get herself another glass of their iced tea.

 

“Stacie?” Said one stranger to another.

 

“Chloe?” The other asked back, as if they had known each other all these years and just found each other again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://srimadbhagavadgita.net/bhagavad-gita-chapter-5  
> If you wanted to know where in the Gita the quotes came from.


	4. Talking Loud, not saying much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the last set up chapter before the tires meet the road, and I'm pretty excited because set up is fun and all but still kind of boring. Also, I confused myself while writing this chapter, so hang tight. :)

 

Everyone always has a story about how they first met a person, that one story that is so crazy it forces you to believe it, otherwise, of course, you just consider that person a liar. Saying, “I saw you in a dream.” was one of those stories, but surprisingly enough for Chloe, it wasn’t the craziest she has ever heard.

 

In fact, for her best friend from high school, Linda, she took a photo with her future husband years before they ever met face to face. 

 

“How do you know my name?” Chloe asked, looking at the tall brunette. She was about three to five inches taller than Chloe, and oozed more sex appeal than Prince.

 

“I had a dream with you in it.” Stacie answered, her eyes never focusing directly on her. “And there was a lot of blood…”

 

“Oh!” Chloe blinked. “That’s mildly disturbing.”

 

Stacie shrugged, what could she do about it?

 

“So, how do you know my name?” Stacie asked, sipping from her unmarked iced tea.

 

“I had a dream where you had this massive yellow cup, and it had your name written on it with black ink.” Chloe said. 

 

“Oh.”

 

They both looked at the bare cup. Chloe wasn’t religious, but she was about to be because nothing like this happened just because random atoms came together and magically made this happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

They made their way to Chloe’s single dorm, at this point Chloe was far less concerned about inviting a stranger over than what the Universe had planned for her. After all, if a random person magically knew your name, there were far more important things to think about than getting robbed.

 

Stacie was chatty, not in a bad way. Few people could keep up with Chloe in the talking department, but Stacie was sailing through like a pro, managing to keep up with the ginger’s random tangents and still keep them on track.

 

As the scientist Stacie decided to document their lives to see if there was anything similar about their experiences. From there she learned so many details about Stacie’s childhood that she practically knew the girl already. Once she finished up on her last story, the days before meeting her and coming to Barden, Chloe tried to think about her own childhood.

 

She had a Father, and a Mother… might have been a Father and a Daddy, or was it a Momma and Mommy? 

 

Chloe frowned, she was sure she had a Dad, and a Mom. Didn’t she just call her Mom? She took out her phone, the frown deepened. Her call log was empty. She was sure she had called a woman who was her caretaker. Maybe smartphones just automatically wipe their log….

 

Chloe blinked. Oh right, it was her turn to list any unusuals in her life.

 

“My dad was in the Navy. He got my mom pregnant right before he left for Boot Camp, and married her right afterward. Uhm, he died from a heart attack before his last deployment, before he was supposed to retire.”

 

‘Then why don’t I get the GI bill ben…’

 

“What about you?” Stacie asked, looking up from the pages filled with handwriting.

 

The fleeting thought evaporated and Chloe tried again, thinking back to her childhood. She rode a horse with eight legs. No, that was normal. She once ate an ant, no normal too.

 

“I don’t…” That thought was interrupted as Chloe looked at the clock. 

 

When did it become 5 o’clock?

 

“Chloe?’ Stacie prompted again.

 

“Yeah?” Chloe blinked. “Yeah, yeah, uhm, I had a normal childhood. I had a dog named Smithers because I watched a lot of Simpsons with my Dad. He was a carpenter.”

 

“In the Navy?” Stacie asked.

 

“Huh? No, he never joined the Navy, he wanted to but my Mom didn’t want him to.”

 

“Wait,” Stacie stared at her. Chloe tried to smile, but the intense glare from the seated brunette stopped her in her tracks. “You just said that your Dad joined the Navy and was about to retire.”

 

Chloe blinked.

 

“No, my Dad hated the military!” She said, shaking her head. “He got maced in the face because of Vietnam, he refused to get drafted.”

 

“Chloe, that would make your dad older than my grandpa.” Stacie said, holding her hand.

 

Chloe didn’t like that, it was patronizing and suffocating. She wasn’t hallucinating! Her dad was real! Her mom was real! SHE, She, she ….

 

She couldn’t remember.

 

“Stacie.” Chloe gasped, she remembered it, everything, all of it. But, everything was turning to black. The memories were being stolen… altered, and she couldn’t do anything about it. “I can’t remember.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The prodigal roommate returned the following morning, after a promise from Stacie that they would meet up again to work some more on their problem. Aubrey looked tired, exhausted from what Chloe didn’t want to know. 

 

She offered Aubrey a smile, who returned it in kind before disappearing into her room to do who knows what. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Who knows what happened to be helping her probably girlfriend with collegiate acapella. Chloe liked singing so she signed up for an acapella group. Surprisingly enough Barden had four, but only two were really competitive, and Chloe loved a challenge. That’s why she picked Vet School, everyone else in her small hometown told her she would never make it.

 

Stacie was already joining the Barden Bellas, so Chloe tagged along. 

 

In the front seat of the auditorium sat Beca and Aubrey, the shock almost made Chloe forget how to sing. She stared wide eyed at her roommate, who returned the shock. 

 

“Are you going to sing?” Aubrey was the first to recover. Chloe closed her mouth and nodded, desperately trying to recall the first words to the song she picked.

 

“You shout it out, but I can’t hear a word you say…” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mildly unsurprisingly Chloe and Stacie both got in, Aubrey deciding not to “kidnap” Chloe. The blonde unceremoniously handed her a burlap sack to place over her head.

 

“What’s this?” She asked, looking at the brown bag.

 

“It’s the official Barden Bella kidnap sack.” Aubrey said, pointing her head toward the door. “You don’t need to wear it just yet, but we need to start walking over to the gym.”

 

“Why didn’t you kidnap me?” Chloe asked, slinging the sack over her arm.

 

“Did you want me to?”

 

Chloe looked at the young blonde lawyer, and shook her head. Considering all things, she didn’t want someone with Aubrey’s will working against her. Aubrey was civilized, but not above doing sketchy things for tradition or fun.

 

(Chloe learned that the hard way when Aubrey shot a squirrel on their window stil with a crossbow because she was bored.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Somehow on their walk there Aubrey managed to explain the fundamentals of Physics to Chloe. It had started with her moaning about her homework, Aubrey was a good listener, and jumped to the specific class for her homework. From there everything went up hill, with the blonde explaining forces on objects and offering her tutoring help. Chloe accepted it graciously, of course.

 

But, how did Aubrey have time for that?

 

“I’ve been on sick leave,” Aubrey said. “I haven’t used any this year and the firm wanted me to use my hours from last year.”

 

“Wait.”

 

Chloe stopped and looked at Aubrey, who was eying her as if she grew a second head.

 

“Weren’t you in Barden’s Vet School?” 

 

Chloe blinked. “No?”

 

“I’m a Music Major.”

 


	5. Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

They would have gotten nowhere if it weren’t for Jessica. The quiet blonde and her sarcastic girlfriend managed to throw Aubrey off long enough for Beca to remember that she was the captain. 

 

Aubrey was a former Bella, back when she majored in Political Science at Barden, and such brought the knowledge from tradition to the young group. Beca, Stacie found out through a bit of snooping, was the only Bella left after a social fiasco chased away all of the other Bellas.

 

In a sense, Aubrey was the only tie to their old traditions, teachings, and knowledge. But, she passed it down harshly, forcing them to perfectly repeat the sounds she made and forcing them to run laps around the bleachers.

 

To be fair, it was their first practice so it made sense that they would be breaking music down into basic building blocks. And Aubrey was a great teacher, but acapella wasn’t only just individual sounds.

 

“What about the set list?” Jessica, who had done acapella in high school, asked. 

 

Beca’s eyes lit up with a fire that Stacie imagined only existed in fantasies. She had never seen anyone that passionate before, and it enthralled her, the excitement in Beca’s very being enraptured her and she too got swept away in the joy of music.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Chloe was still a mystery. So far, the only things Stacie had to work with was what Chloe told her and her dreams. It felt related, all of it, but she couldn’t put it together. She just needed a catalyst, a missing link.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

They kept their nightly meetings, Chloe reporting about everyone and everything. Not with malicious intent, but because Chloe was the kind of person who lived her life out in the open. And she expected others to do so as well, which meant her sense of privacy was limited.

 

In the following days, Stacie learned more about Aubrey, Beca, and anyone Chloe talked to than she cared to admit, but it helped her out in the end.

 

Chloe had a perfect memory until it came to talking about her past beyond Barden. As if anything before Barden wasn’t real to her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Beca asked Jessica, Chloe, and Stacie to stay behind one day. Jessica, because she had the experience, and Chloe and Stacie because they knew how to dance. 

 

Beca was brilliant at one thing, making the set list and making the Bellas harmonize, but she was limited everywhere else. Stacie didn’t know what Aubrey could do, the blonde lawyer now just sat on a bleacher and only interfered if there was physical activity to be enforced. 

 

She was seated, a few feet away from the current Bellas with her phone out frowning at the screen. They ignored it, not because Aubrey was a private person but because she terrified them and any less interaction with her made them happier. 

 

“So, I picked you guys out because you had some experience with things I can’t really do.” Beca started. “Like Jessica, you were in high school acapella right?”

 

“Yeah!” Jessica said smiling. “It’s why I went to Barden.”

 

So they started with a few dance moves, bouncing ideas off each other. It was going well, Jessica and Chloe getting caught in the swing of things until Jessica passed out. Stacie was looking in the opposite direction at the time and caught Aubrey’s head jerking up to look right as Jessica went down.

 

Before she collapsed.

 

Aubrey knew something about the world, Stacie realized as Chloe lunged toward Jessica.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Jessica was a werewolf, but there was no full moon in sight and Stacie knew the next full moon was a week from now. 

 

At first, she didn’t know what was happening, Jessica’s teeth fell out and scattered all over the floor. Stacie’s first reaction wasn’t to panic, but to look at the sharp bone jutting out of Jessica’s fleshy gums and think, “Look at those canines, they shouldn’t fit.”.

 

Chloe’s scream startled her back into reality, and she looked down at Jessica. By then their Bella sister was mostly gone, her skin replaced by thick coarse black fur and her limbs proudly supported long white claws made to rip and tear. Maybe it was the fear so overwhelming her that Stacie became confused about how to feel, but Stacie could feel nothing. 

 

Not even the need to run.

 

Everything happened slowly as if the fluid motion of time was changed with the rapid speed of molasses. Werewolf-Jessica stood up on her two hind legs, and roared like King Kong on top of the Empire State Building. Chloe screamed and tried running backward but she only traveled a few centimeters at a time. Beca was standing still, just like her.

 

And then everything changed. A black shadowy mass with a long thin lasso walked into Stacie’s sights and began twirling the rope, releasing it to land on Jessica’s collarbone. 

 

(Is Werewolf Anatomy the same as Human Anatomy?)

 

Beca winced, a subtle gesture that Stacie almost missed if it wasn’t so out of place. Wasn’t Beca frozen? How did she move?

 

Stacie tried moving her head but found that she couldn’t. It was almost like she was swimming, and decided to sit at the bottom of the pool, but only much worse to the point that she couldn’t even move her eyes. A heavy pressure kept her in place and she could only watch as the dark mass took Jessica away, walking through the pressure as if it didn’t exist. She couldn’t even blink, it was suffocating. Terrifying. She felt short of breath even though she hadn't felt the need to breath since this started. Her heart thundered in her chest and she wanted to collapse to the ground and sob. At least then she could control something.

 

The mass tugged at the rope and once it was happy  began dragging Jessica away. Jessica seemed to suffer the same fate as Stacie, unable to really move except for where the rope pulled her away from the girls. It would have been funny, cartoonish even, if it weren't really happening. Once they were long gone from view, Chloe blinked, and suddenly all the pressure lifted off of Stacie. She took a breath, not that she needed one but it felt good to be in control of her own body again. 

 

“So, I picked you guys out because you had some experience with things I can’t really do.” Beca started. Stacie's eyes widened. “Like Chloe, you were in high school acapella right?”

 

“Yeah!” Chloe said smiling. “It’s why I went to Barden.”


	6. You shouldn't have forgotten about Jessica and Ashley

Jessica magically didn’t exist anymore.

 

How does someone stop existing?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Aubrey’s neurotic habits were starting to scare Chloe, partially because of the intensity Aubrey always had when doing them. She took for granted a family that was okay with her appearance, so when she found Aubrey’s stash of hair dye and contacts at first Chloe was confused.

 

Then sad, because how deep did the hurt run if Aubrey did these things away from her parents?

 

At first, Chloe stayed away from it, because how could she confront a person who dislikes themself? She kept the illusion of normalcy after her discovery, but that had its limits. Because illusions are weak and break.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chloe stared at the black dot on her bed. Aubrey had just left a few minutes ago to get paint because Chloe wanted a colorful bed frame.

 

Aubrey had black blood.

 

Chloe blinked, and suddenly memories from the past twenty-five years rushed through her brain, overwhelming her. She had parents! A Mom and a Dad! Her dad was in the Navy, and he was going to visit her because she became a music teacher in a cit…

 

Her dad.

 

Aubrey.

 

Chloe sobbed, the memory fresh on her mind, Aubrey mercilessly murdering her father and Beca drugging her mother. And then Stacie trying to keep up with her as new sets of memories kept running through her head.

 

Stacie!

 

She needed to tell Stacie the…

 

“Chloe, can you open the door?” Aubrey yelled.

 

How did she get back so fast? Chloe whimpered, Aubrey was dangerous! She was a demon! She quickly looked around for something, anything, to defend herself. There was a sharp chef’s knife in the kitchen, Aubrey used it for when she made dinner for the two of them.

 

Chloe pulled it out of the block and made her way to the door not even bothering to hide the weapon. Behind the door was Aubrey, holding three paint cans, each the exact shade of color she requested for her bed.

 

“Chloe?” Aubrey’s eyebrow raised and she took a small step backward.

 

It felt good, to make her afraid after all she put Chloe through.

 

“You killed my dad.” Chloe spat.

 

The light in Aubrey’s eyes died. She put the paint cans down and put her hands up.

 

“Yes.” She nodded. “I did.”

 

“Why?” Her rage melted into sorrow at the reminder of why her father was gone from this world.

 

Aubrey quickly grabbed the knife with her bare hand to keep Chloe from hurting herself, and propped the defeated ginger up. Somehow the blonde still had the strength to move Chloe and carry the cans of paint to her room, even with the knife digging deep into her hand.

 

The black tar blood dripping from Aubrey’s hand was mesmerizing, it moved like thick molasses rather than runny human blood.

 

“Don’t,” She whispered as Aubrey helped her down to the bed. “Don’t change my mind, please.”

 

Aubrey looked at her, forest green eyes boring into hers.

 

“Okay.” She said.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Aubs.” Chloe looked at the blonde, who had been sitting on the floor next to the bed waiting for her. “You’re still bleeding.”

 

The blonde looked at her raw torn up hand and sighed. “Yes. It looks like it.”

 

Chloe stood up and grabbed the first aid kit Aubrey insisted she keep in her room. Rummaging through it she found a square of wrapped gauze, a roll of wrapping, and some alcohol wipes. The knife probably wasn’t dirty, but you never know.

 

She couldn’t believe it, how could someone so kind to her (Well, harsh at times too) be so evil? It was hard to understand, all her memories of Aubrey, besides of course killing her dad, were of a kind uptight blonde who sometimes accidentally hurt her through her unyielding ways. (But she always made up for it in the end.)

 

So where did the evil come from? Why did she kill? Was she a monster? Was she one of those killers who only loved one thing but hated the rest of the world?

 

“What are you?”

 

Aubrey looked at her, blank-eyed. “Anything you want me to be.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The next morning Aubrey walked her to the Bella’s rehearsal so that she could, with Beca, answer Chloe’s burning questions. It seemed though, that fate had different plans.

 

The moment they entered the empty gym gas started pouring in. It took Chloe down instantly, the last thing she remembered was passing out in Aubrey’s arms, wondering why the world was turning black again.


End file.
